Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) is an important Rasayana herb and widely considered as Indian ginseng in Ayurveda. In traditional system of Indian medicine, it is used as tonic to rejuvenate the body and increase longevity. In Ayurvedic preparations, various parts of the plant have been used to treat variety of ailments that affect the human health. However, dried roots of the plant are widely used for the treatment of nervous and sexual disorders. The major active chemical constituents of this plant are withanolides, which is responsible for its wide range of biological activities. Since the beginning of the century, a significant amount of research has been done and efforts are ongoing to further explore other bioactive constituents, and many pharmacological studies have been carried out to describe their disease preventing mechanisms. In this chapter, we have reviewed the chemistry and pharmacological basis of W. somnifera in various human ailments.

According to the traditional Korean medicine, Dampness-heat (DH)is an abnormal state of the body that results in a pathological accumulation of dampness and heat. DH is caused by overeating fatty, sweet foods or overdrinking alcohol. Exposure to hot and humid atmospheres is another cause of DH. Although many experimental animal model on various diseases related with DH syndrome were established, DH syndrome dermatitis model is not established. Thus, we introduce the experimental animal model of the dermatitis with DH syndrome.

Pharmacovigilance is the study of the safety of drugs under the practical conditions of clinical usage in large communities. Aim of this study was to assess the pharmacovigilance awareness among a focus group of Ayurveda physicians in Sri Lanka who participated for their postgraduate studies. A questionnaire which was suitable for assessing the basic knowledge, attitude and the practice of pharmacovigilance was designed and submitted among group of Ayurveda physicians (n

Yoga is an ancient Indian system of life, encompassing various practices including practices for self-discipline and also for regulating the health states of the individual, being practiced for thousands of years. The present study aims at understanding the effect of two high frequency breathing practices over autonomic nervous system. Forty healthy male volunteers of age years with months of Yoga practice experience were recruited. The two high frequency Yoga breathing practices, kapalabhati (KB) and bhastrika (BH) were given as interventions randomly on either of the two days to minimise laboratory bias. They were assessed before and immediately after the interventions for heart rate, respiratory rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure and peripheral oxygen saturation. There was a significant increase in heart rate (p<0.01; p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (p<0.01; p<0.001), NN50 (p<0.01; p<0.001) component of HRV for both KB and BH groups respectively. There was a significant reduction in respiratory rate in both the groups (p<0.001, and p<0.05, BH and KB respectively) immediately following intervention. A significant increase in LF component of HRV and reduction in Diastolic blood pressure and high frequency (HF)component following KB was also observed (p<0.05, for all comparisons). The Mean peripheral oxygen saturation remained unaltered in both the groups (p>0.05).The results suggest that high frequency yoga breathing practices induce physiological arousal immediately as evidenced by increased blood pressure and heart rate. The sympathetic arousal was more following KB session as evidenced by an increased diastolic blood pressure, LF power and a decrease in HF power of HRV as compared to the BH session.

In this first double-blind-placebo-controlled investigation of the Aeon Patch, electrocardiographic data were acquired from 50 well-hydrated volunteers [21 females and 29 males, age: 19-79, weight: 117-334 lbs, height: 5`-6`,3"], under 3 different conditions for a total duration of 15 min (5 min/condition). Condition1: Control (C) - while wearing no Patch, Condition 2: Placebo (P) or Active (A) - after wearing either the Placebo or the Aeon Patch for 20 min, and Condition 3: Active (A) or Placebo (P) - after wearing either the Aeon or the Placebo Patch for 20 min. There was a washout period of 15 min between Conditions 2 and 3. All involved in the investigation were blind to the (A) and (P) Patches as they looked exactly the same and were assigned in a random fashion. The hypothesis to be tested was: Wearing the Aeon Patch for 20 min reduces stress. Data were first quality assured and those subjects who showed a parasympathetic response after wearing the Patch within 20 min were identified as early responders. Thirty subjects (60%) achieved a relaxed state after wearing the Aeon Patch as early as 20 min. Statistical analysis (one-sample inference) was used to compare the spectral features of the responders. The normalized LF/HF decreased significantly ( after 20 min) in condition (A) compared to condition (P) with a p-value < 0.047 (n

Fumaria indica Linn. (Syn: Fumaria parviflora, Fumariaceae) is a wildly grown weed, mentioned and recommended in classical Ayurvedic texts for treatments of variety of ailments including dermatological diseases, topical diseases, cardiovascular complaints, circulatory disease, fever and headache etc. The present pilot study was designed to experimentally verify the possibility that fumarates are the major bioactive principles of Fumaria indica extracts involved in their stress response modulating activities, and to estimate pharmacologicallyactive dose ranges of fumarates and standardized methanolic extract of Fumaria indica (MFI). Effect of single, 5 and 10 daily oral doses of pure fumaric acid (FA), monomethyl fumarate (MMF), dimethyl fumarate (DMF) and MFI was quantified in well validated rodent models viz. apomorphine induced cage climbing, stress induced hyperthermia, and elevated plus-maze tests. Obtained results reveal high efficacy of MFI and pure fumarates possess qualitatively analogous activity profiles in all the three tests. There were no significant difference in the potencies of pure FA, MMF and DMF in the three tests, whereas efficacy of MFI in the elevated plus maze test for anxiolytics was higher than in the other two tests. Efficacies of all the four test agents in all the three tests increased with increasing number of days of oral treatments. Results of these pilot experiments should be helpful for more rational selections of pharmacologically interesting dose ranges and treatment regimens of fumarates and Fumaria indica extracts for further more holistic explorations of their diverse therapeutic potentials.

According to Ayurveda, an individual can be classified into any one of the seven constitutional types (Prakriti) depending on the dominance of one, two, or three Doshas. A `Dosha` is representative of fundamental mechanisms that are responsible for homeostasis, and thus, to health. In the recent years, there have been several efforts to see whether certain physiological, haematological or biochemical parameters have any relationship with the constitutional types or not. The objective of the present study was to see if the results of autonomic function tests vary according to Prakriti of an individual. We conducted this study in clinically healthy volunteers of both the gender belonging to the age group of 17 to 35 years after obtaining their written consent. The Prakriti of these volunteers was assessed on the basis of a validated questionnaire and also by traditional method of interviewing. After confirming that the primary Dosha ascertained by both these methods matched, 106 volunteers were grouped into three on the basis of primary Dosha and were subjected to various autonomic function tests such as cold pressor test, standing-to-lying ratio, Valsalva ratio and pupillary responses such as pupil cycle time and pupil size measurement in light and dark. The results suggest that, the autonomic function tests in the healthy individuals may correlate linearly with the primary Dosha expressed in an individual. In particular, people with Kapha as the most dominant Dosha showed a tendency to have either a higher parasympathetic activity or a lower sympathetic activity with respect to their cardiovascular reactivity in comparison to the individuals with Pitta or Vata as the most dominant Dosha.